The Executioner of Piety and the Psychohistorian
by Dim95
Summary: Outside the kingdom of Camelot taken by the Commandment of Piety, Zeldris talks a conversation with a human stranger he had never seen before for three thousand years.


**Alright guys, this is a writing from this chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Nanatsu no Taizai belongs to Nakaba Suzuki and the Isaac Asimov Foundation saga.**

* * *

 _It is change, continuous and inevitable change, the dominant factor in today's society. You cannot make a sensible decision without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be._

 _Issac Asimov_

The stars shone like pearls in the middle of a great sea of darkness that adorned the night sky. The moonlight shone starry night with its milky tone, illuminating much of the forest full of trees, the meadow, and a flat hill where two figures watched the night panorama that awaited the starry night, and especially in a kingdom with huge rectangular stone walls and a castle as a center of power.

Camelot, that was the name of the kingdom that the two figures watched from afar. The kingdom of Camelot had been one of the most prosperous kingdoms of Britannia in its growth stage that is on par with the kingdom of Liones, but it was only a hive full of creatures of different sizes and shapes that one could not imagine. Demons roamed the deserted streets, while some flew over the night sky.

Between the two figures that saw the conquered Camelot kingdom and long natural plain, were a young man and an old man. The young man was a boy of fifteen years of age, with black hair in the shape of a rooster's crest with dark eyes with a gleaming purple and a kind of spiral black mark on his forehead. His attire consisted of a red shirt with a high collar and metal hearts that covered both his arms and his two legs, in addition to wearing a belt with his sword in its holster around the hip. The name of this young man was Zeldris, the second son of the Demon King, leader of the Ten Commandments and bearer of the Commandment of Piety, while the second was an old man with white hair for age and blue eyes; he wore a strange outfit, something had never been seen in Britannia: it was a dark blue uniform with white and a badge with an arrow that seemed to fly over a yellow sun.

Definitely, the old man had caught the attention of the bearer of the Commandment of Piety when he had decided to clear his mind by leaving Camelot in charge of his brother Estarossa while he was away. What seemed like a walk through the moor of the esplanade covered by the thick green mantle had become very strange, when it caught the presence of a wandering soul. When he decided to investigate, armed with his sword and his demonic power, he had spotted the old man who was on his back, watching the nocturnal wooded plain and the kingdom infested by demons.

When Zeldris approached calmly towards him, he noticed that the human soul did not seem to feel fear, but rather detected an atheism of indifference towards his presence, as if he was not interested in knowing who was the one behind him. That reminded Zeldris of Gowther, the authentic human-shaped demon that was given by the Commandment of Selflessness by the Demon King himself.

Zeldris was wary of the wandering soul, observing if he was going to make a move to attack him, but he understood that it did not represent a threat when he spoke to him without turning to face him:

"It's a beautiful landscape under the night, don't you think, young?" The old man said kindly.

Zeldris frowned if it was necessary or not to answer the question of the human soul ... even so... the old man was right; the night landscape if it was beautiful when it was seen at night, something that the bearer of the Commandment of Piety always saw with total fascination in the human world of Britannia, while in the world of demons it was only eermal land without any vegetation or light lunar or solar. The hope of making the world of demons a stable place was Zeldris' dream when he thought about taking his father's place and becoming the Demon King ... but everything changed when his older brother, Meliodas, betrayed his race during the Holy War for three thousand years.

"Yes, it is," the Demon King's Executioner said evenly, looking at the kingdom of Camelot and the plains in the distance on the horizon. His tone became serious when he asked: "Who are you?"

"I'm just a simple old man enjoying seeing the warm night landscape when he feels the freshness of the wind blowing at night," the human-speaking tone said simply and monotonously.

Zeldris calmed down, knowing he was harmless.

"But you still haven't answered my question," repeated the Commandment of Piety. "Who you are?"

The old man turned to him calmly, and Zeldris detailed it analytically: his face was wrinkled by age, but he had a young air. The old man's blue eyes flashed a scholarly and wise glow, something that reminded him of the real Gowther. As for his outfit ... it was strange from Zeldris's point of view: a uniform between white and dark blue with a kind of badge with a white arrow flying over a sun. It was definitely something he had never seen before in his life.

"I think we should comply with our formal civilized communication," said the old man with a kind smile at his corners. "My name is Hari Seldon"

"Zeldris" presented himself neutrally.

"Zedris" repeated the old man known as Hari Seldon. "It's a pleasant surprise to meet the second son of the Demon King"

The Commandment of Piety tilted its head as it raised an eyebrow; It was not necessary to look for logic by knowing that all clans knew who he was. His title as Executioner and his incredible power during the Holy War against the Goddess Clan was recognized by word of mouth. No one was a rival in facing him, except for his older brother, and his father. While as this human knew, he had never seen before knowing who his father was was a mystery.

"It seems surprised that a stranger like me knows your progeny, doesn't it?" Seldon commented.

"Yes," Zeldris had responded by nodding. "Everyone knows who I am. But you are different from any human soul I have seen," he observed more. "Your outfit is an example"

"Oh," said the old man, grabbing the tip of his uniform. "You mean this. Well, this uniform is an old reminder when I was alive, occupying a position in a political bosom during my long life as a mortal"

"Occupying in a political bosom?" The curiosity to know who this human was was increased to Zeldris.

"Indeed, young," Seldon said calmly, with a nostalgic tone. "Before I was a professor of mathematics, but due to _certain_ events due to the whims of destiny I was never aware of; I ended up assuming my role as a minister in an imperial government"

Now Zeldris was more surprised, and millions of questions came to mind, but there was only one he chose.

"What were the causes? And what imperial government are you talking about?"

Seldon laughed at the two curious questions thrown by the boy.

"Well, to answer your first question is very complicated for you to understand; since you can get even more confused while I explain ... but I can summarize that I, when I was lecturing on mathematics and physics in my young state, explained before everyone in the meeting on a formula on how to predict the events that could happen in the near or distant future, by calculating equations between more masses that could generate reactions at a given time when applying the formula of mathematics. I called the psychohistory"

"Psychohistory?" Zeldris said, confused. "You are telling me that you created a formula in which you can predict the future?"

"I would not say that they are easy to predict the future as you think, young" Seldon told him sincerely. "To predict the flow of events that are about to happen in the future, the laws of statistics must be applied to large groups of people in a single place or in many where actions or reactions that would serve as a basis for prediction of events that was about to science of psychohistory is governed by two axioms that I have raised: the population in which the behavior was to be molded must be sufficiently large, and that the population must remain in ignorance of the results of the application of psychohistoric analysis because if it is conscious, the group changes its behavior. That is the two results that are governed by psychohistory"

Zeldris was fascinated ... rather he would be stunned. Never in your life as a demon would you meet a human who would be able to create a non-magical science where the future could be predicted. Usually, any creature with an advanced magic level could have the ability to see the veil of the past, present and future; I know by means of blood magic, or just consulting the cards ... but this human advanced in a different scheme.

"But you could foresee, right?" said the Commandment of Piety without restraint by curiosity. "That empire that you had worked collapsed when you applied that procedure"

Seldon nodded.

"That's right, Zeldris. The Empire had fallen into anarchy and corruption, and then disintegrated into pieces. The inevitable that was predicted in psychohistory could not be stopped. But that does not mean that everything is over"

"Eh?" Zeldris wrinkled his forehead. "What do you mean?"

Seldon smiled wryly.

"You see, Zeldris, while the Empire entered its state of decay and collapse, I ... or rather, I was instructed by an old friend of mine in the formation of a new nucleus that would bring prosperity in the midst of the barbarity that plagued after the Empire fell. Those two seeds of rebirth would be called "foundations", who would be the key pieces for the rise of society and the economy"

Zeldris was perplexed, speechless.

"Surprised that a human being like me has devised a plan to preserve society, right?" Seldon said humorously, seeing the dumb face of his partner.

The Demon King's Executioner regained his composure, muttering to himself.

"I ..." the boy tried to ask a question, but his stupor wouldn't let him say it. He recovered his speech a minute later. "It's amazing ... I didn't know that a human like you could create something using calculations that only magicians and sorcerers could do. But ..." Zeldris clenched his hands tightly and spoke in a serious tone: "Is there a possibility that psychohistory could somehow stop this ..."

"I know what you're trying to reach, Zeldris," Seldon said. "The chances that this "Second Holy War" could end at a warlike or peaceful point are high and low. That all depends on the decisions that could be taken by a different means. There are determining variables in which this war can be changed to a different course can be successful. If you use the method of psychohistory to analyze the situation in which Britannia is currently, you could say that there is a high probability that a certain group of individuals with different thoughts of idealism can, of a so, change the outcome of this war, and you know what group I mean"

"The Seven Deadly Sins," said Zeldris, recognizing by heart the group of his older brother who was made up of the human known as Escanor who defeated Estarossa in Liones, the immortal human with fox features, the new fairy king, the girl of Belialuin, the giant girl, the doll in the form of Gowther's late girlfriend, and Elizabeth, the daughter of the Supreme Deity who suffers the curse of reincarnation for betraying the Goddess Clan ... Not to mention that Meliodas is the group leader. That was what Hari Seldon was referring to the new variables that psychohistory determined.

"Exactly," said Hari Seldon, nodding. "The former renegade group of Sacred Knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins are contained in the variables of psychohistory, and it is that group of rebel idealists who oppose the regime of Law and Chaos. The actions of the Seven Deadly Sins they would take the course of this war will be essential for the end of this incompressible war warlike"

"Incompressible warlike?" Zeldris raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Seldon replied with distaste in his tone of voice. "I do not see this a kind of "Holy War" to the algorithm of the word; rather it would be a war for supremacy for the dominant power instead of the sacred. The only saint would be the incomprehension and ignorance of the blind before a conflict that could determine the balance of the universal in something that has always been seen since countless millennia of antiquity"

Zeldris had no words to say about it; I was stunned by the frankness and cold sincerity that Seldon had expressed about the ancient conflict for three thousand years between the Goddess Clan and the Demon Clan that plagued all Britannia. He recalled at the time that he was just a simple boy who longed to stand out with his brother against the angels sent by the Supreme Deity and the other clans. Both he and Estarossa were young people who let themselves be carried away by the rigor of honor and glory as they were the sons of the Demon King in the middle of the battlefield ... but everything had changed forever when he met Gelda of the Vampire Clan, falling in love of her beautiful supernatural beauty that completely enchanted him. The vague memories ravaged her mind like images flashing in the darkness: her first conversation, her first hobby walking with her in the middle of the war, her conflict when she hugged him and curled up in her cleavage ... all those memories gave him an existential crisis in what he was doing.

He did not know what his place in the world was, but there was only one thing he had done to intensify his internal conflict: he rejected Meliodas' proposal to flee along with Gelda in the middle of the war, and then later received the order of his father in eradicating the Vampire Clan for his betrayal of the Demon Clan, and Zeldris did not carry out that order: he went to the castle and locked them forever in a dark field of demonic magic, where his lover, Gelda, was there, locked up with his clan for the rest of eternity.

When he and the other Commandments were locked in the Eternal Darkness Coffin by the angels of the Goddess Clan, a feeling of uncertainty covered Zeldris by the head as he was locked up with his companions. He doubted himself in his lethargy confinement, doubted how was his purpose in fighting for the glory of his clan. When they were released from confinement by one of the demons that possessed Sacred Knight Hendrickson, all Zeldris wanted was to find his elder brother, and kill him for his betrayal. He later learned that Meliodas was destined to become the candidate by replacing his father, because he was cursed when he died and taken to his true cruel and ruthless personification.

Now, everything was different when he assumed power in Camelot. Everything had already changed, and nothing interested him anymore, except at some point to make a new paradise for demons in his world. A place where demons had to depend on the souls of living beings.

Then there is the matter that this Second Holy War is not a holy war as Seldon says, and it is true in what he had said: the only holy thing he had was for people to follow ideals of reaping patriotism, and it was only a mere conflict between Two powers for dominance. There was never a sacred war, but an absurd and meaningless war.

Zeldris laughed with discouragement.

"I think you're right about this Second Holy War, Hari Seldon," said the Commandment of Piety with a solemn look on his face. "In the past I was a person who believed I was doing it for a greater good in fighting against the Goddess Clan and the other clans. I fought, killed, destroyed, killed every enemy that got in my way. I had no mercy on the weak to implore mercy after killing them. I was reaped by my pride at the time. My main objective was to gain the attention of others and my father in knowing that I am strong, the individual capable of becoming the next Demon King. But now , everything is clear in my mind ... I understand everything. There was never a Holy War, and it was never considered a Holy War; it was just a genocide between supernatural races fighting for power and dominant supremacy"

Seldon looked at him, understanding the sorrow he felt as a child of what he had experienced three thousand years ago.

"I know how you feel, Zeldris," the old man spoke cordially. "You were a victim of an ambition that we all feel hypnotized by glory and honor. The war led to despair, and from despair it led to an existential crisis in knowing who you fight for, or why you are fighting. The Holy War for three thousand years it has only brought decay and death at its full and apathy reigned over the various clans of came to despair, while others to were neither winners nor losers during the War Holy, only individuals who let themselves be carried away by the ideals of others, both the Supreme Deity and the Demon King were not at all interested in the suffering of others, they were only interested in their egos to feel loved and superior to others; they used their faithful soldiers as pieces in their own game. But I can tell you one thing so you can know: sometimes, people with sufficient superiority, fall victim to their own ios egos" Seldon smiled mischievously. "Both your older brother, and the daughter of the Supreme Deity, are the seeds of ruin of both factions"

Zeldris was fascinated and dumbfounded.

"But ..." the boy hesitated. "But ... do you think all this works? Can psychohistory foresee that I and Meliodas, together with their group, can stop this growing war that is about to happen?"

"My dear friend," Seldon reassured him calmly. "We must not be driven by despair, it only makes you despair more than you are. What is about to happen is governed by the laws of mathematics, and psychohistory determines the flow of the actions of the masses. Variables, Zeldris, the variables are important for the is the last resort of the desperate, and should only be used with full scholarly ability to know how to use whole scheme of this war is analyzed by will be significant losses and sacrifices, in I can assure that, but the triumph of the renegade individuals to authority always arrogance of the strong is the strength of the succeed, planning alone is not must also decisions are made by measures that one thinks are convenient to take for the greater good, and such decisions taken could forever change the course of history. Meliodas, the Seven Deadly Sins, and you, are destined to change forever this vicious circle that was repeated three thousand years ago, and this circle ends here and now. That's all I can tell you"

They both remained silent for a long time, and their eyes turned to the starry darkness of reflective lights and the pale milky moonlight. Camelot still had demonic activity, but there was none that went to them.

"Even so ..." Zeldris began to say, breaking the reigning silence. "Are there chances that all this will be saved?"

"They are tall and short, Zeldris," said Seldon, and a smile of complacency was drawn at his fleshy corners. "But you always have to have hope in times of moral crisis. Everything can change if we make the right decisions that can lead to success."

"I guess you're right," the boy crossed his arms, silently watching the night landscape.

"You know, this landscape reminds me of my old home, Helicon, before I became a minister of the Empire. But that was another time, like my days of youth and life in the imperial capital of Trantor where there was gone to carve out my own future. Also, I think it is not necessary to tell what has been explained above"

"But, you must have had some inconvenience in your stay, right?"

"Very true," Seldon said wistfully. "In my youth, when I barely created the foundations of psychohistory, I was accompanied by friends who have helped me to continue with the project. I went through each sector and in each area where the Empire showed its signs of accelerated decline. Dors, Raych, Yugo, Wanda, Daneel ... it was those people that I owe them thanks for placing their hopes on me as the only individual in the universe, and psychohistory would not have progressed had it not been for them "Seldon looked at the night sky. "But it seems that hope has come"

"Eh?" Zeldris said, confused.

"Look," Seldon replied, pointing his finger at the starry night sky, and Zeldris could tell in what he said: he could see how Meliodas and Elizabeth's presence got closer, until he could distinguish them with his senses.

"Are they!"

"Exactly," said the old man cheerfully and expectantly. "Those two are the variables that psychohistory has determined on stage to be annexed in a predetermined and obligatory way. Everything is already happening as planned in this psychohistorical experiment ... and it's time for me to leave"

"You go?" Zeldris's tone was anguished, not wanting him to leave, since he was the only person with whom he had had a good conversation, and the only one he could see as a friend, or a father figure.

Seldon put both hands on his shoulders, having a generous smile.

"It is change, continuous and inevitable change, the dominant factor in today's society. You cannot make a sensible decision without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. It is time that you make the change in which you are so anxious in your interior, it is time for a new change to arise in your destiny. It was a pleasant evening to meet you and share our opinions. Perhaps the Universe wanted us to meet. Goodbye, Zeldris de la Piety"

There was a flash of light, and Hari Seldon's body had become fine gleaming particles of light that disappeared as they flew through the wind.

With tears coming out of his eyes, Zeldris took them off, and black wings with purple energy came out of his back. He rose in the air, and flew to Camelot, where he would meet his older brother's traitor, and the daughter of the Supreme Deity.

If something he learned about this conversation with Hari Seldon, was that the change had to be made, and that the decisions he would make could change everything, and that was what Zeldris was about to do.

It was time that this absurd "Holy War" ended once and for all.

* * *

 _HARI SELDON-. Born in 11988 GE, died 12069 GE. Dates are most commonly given in terms of the current Foundation Era as -79 FE for the year 1 FE. Born of middle-class parents in Helicon, in the Arcturus sector (where his father, in a legend of doubtful authenticity, was a tobacco grower in the hydroponic plants of the planet), he showed an incredible ability in mathematics. The anecdotes about his ability are innumerable, and some are contradictory. At the age of 22, he is said to have ..._

 _Without a doubt, his greatest contributions were in the field of psychohistory. Seldon found the field little more than a set of vague axioms; He left a deep statistical science. The best authority we have for the details of his life is the biography written by Gaal Dormick who, when he was young, met Seldon two years before the great mathematician's death..._

 _Found dead, collapsed on the desk of his office at Streeling University on 1 FE. Apparently, Seldon had been working until his last moments in psychohistoric equations; his first activated radiant was discovered grabbed in his hand. According to Seldon's instructions, the instrument was sent by his colleague Gaal Dornick, who had recently emigrated to Terminus. Seldon's body was thrown into space, also according to the instructions he had left. The official memorial service in Trantor was simple, although he attended. It is worth noting that the former friend of Seldon's former prime minister, Eto Demerzel, attended the event. Demerzel had not been seen since his mysterious disappearance immediately after the Joranumite Conspiracy during the reign of Emperor Cleon I. The attempts of the Public Security Commission to locate Demerzel in the days after the Seldon memorial were unsuccessful. Wanda Seldon, the granddaughter of Hari Seldon, did not attend the ceremony. It was rumored that she was afflicted and had rejected all public appearances. To this day, his whereabouts are unknown. It has been said that Hari Seldon left this life as he lived it, because he died with the future he created around him._

Galactic Encyclopedia.

* * *

 **All comments are welcome**


End file.
